Welcome back to your Italian journey!

In the previous lesson, you learned how to shop in Italian, ask about prices, talk about sizes and colours, and buy things at a market or in a shop.

Today, we’re leaving the shops and exploring the city! 🏙️

In Lesson 6, you’ll learn how to talk about places in town, ask for directions, understand simple answers, and find your way around in Italian.

Andiamo! — Let’s go!

🎯 Learning Objective

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

Name common places around a town or city
Ask where something is
Ask for simple directions
Understand phrases such as a destra, a sinistra and sempre dritto
Say where you are going
Give simple directions to another person
Have a basic conversation about finding a place

Don’t worry if you can’t remember everything immediately. The goal is to start recognising and using these phrases naturally.

📚 Where We Are in the Series

Here’s a quick reminder of what you’ve learned so far:

Lesson	Topic	Key Skills
Lesson 1	Greetings & Introductions	Saying hello, introducing yourself
Lesson 2	Numbers & Colours	Counting and describing colours
Lesson 3	Food & Restaurant Ordering	Ordering food and drinks
Lesson 4	Days, Months & Telling the Time	Dates, times and making plans
Lesson 5	Shopping, Prices & the Market	Prices, sizes, quantities and shopping
Lesson 6	Around the City & Directions	Asking for and giving directions

🏙️ 1. Places Around the City

Let’s start with some useful places you might need when visiting an Italian town or city.

🗺️ Luoghi in città — Places in the city

Italian	English
la stazione	the station
la piazza	the square
il museo	the museum
la banca	the bank
la farmacia	the pharmacy
il supermercato	the supermarket
il ristorante	the restaurant
il bar	the café / bar
l’hotel	the hotel
il negozio	the shop
il cinema	the cinema
il teatro	the theatre
la chiesa	the church
il parco	the park
il bagno	the toilet / bathroom
la fermata dell’autobus	the bus stop

💡 Useful tip

In Italian, il and la mean “the”.

For example:

il museo — the museum
la stazione — the station
il ristorante — the restaurant
la farmacia — the pharmacy

You don’t need to memorise every word immediately. Start with the places you are most likely to use.

📍 2. Asking “Where Is…?”

One of the most useful questions when you’re in Italy is:

Dov’è…?

Where is…?

For example:

Dov’è la stazione?
Where is the station?

Dov’è il museo?
Where is the museum?

Dov’è la farmacia?
Where is the pharmacy?

Dov’è il bagno?
Where is the toilet?

You can make the question more polite by saying:

Scusi, dov’è…?

Excuse me, where is…?

For example:

Scusi, dov’è la stazione, per favore?
Excuse me, where is the station, please?

This is a very useful phrase to remember!

🧭 3. Directions

Now let’s learn some essential direction words.

➡️ A destra — To the right

a destra — to the right

Giri a destra.
Turn right.

⬅️ A sinistra — To the left

a sinistra — to the left

Giri a sinistra.
Turn left.

⬆️ Sempre dritto — Straight ahead

sempre dritto — straight ahead / keep going straight

Vada sempre dritto.
Go straight ahead.

↔️ Other useful phrases

vicino — near

lontano — far

qui — here

lì — there

davanti a — in front of

dietro — behind

accanto a — next to

di fronte a — opposite / in front of

🚶 4. Simple Direction Phrases

Here are some phrases you can use straight away.

È qui vicino.
It’s nearby.

È molto vicino.
It’s very close.

È un po’ lontano.
It’s a little far.

È a destra.
It’s on the right.

È a sinistra.
It’s on the left.

È davanti al museo.
It’s in front of the museum.

È accanto alla banca.
It’s next to the bank.

È di fronte alla stazione.
It’s opposite the station.

⭐ Very useful

Sempre dritto.
Straight ahead.

A destra.
To the right.

A sinistra.
To the left.

If you remember just these three phrases, you’ll already be able to understand some basic directions.

🚦 5. Cross the Road!

You may also need these phrases:

la strada — the road

il semaforo — the traffic light

l’incrocio — the crossroads / intersection

il ponte — the bridge

attraversare — to cross

Examples

Attraversi la strada.
Cross the road.

Al semaforo, giri a destra.
At the traffic lights, turn right.

È dopo il semaforo.
It’s after the traffic lights.

È vicino all’incrocio.
It’s near the crossroads.

🗣️ 6. Asking for Directions Politely

When you need help, start with Scusi.

Scusi, dov’è la stazione?
Excuse me, where is the station?

Scusi, dov’è il museo?
Excuse me, where is the museum?

Scusi, per andare al centro?
Excuse me, how do I get to the city centre?

Mi può aiutare, per favore?
Can you help me, please?

💡 Scusi or Scusa?

Use:

Scusi — polite / formal

Scusa — informal, with a friend or someone you know

For example:

Scusi, dov’è la farmacia?
Excuse me, where is the pharmacy?

Scusa, dov’è il bar?
Excuse me, where is the café?

For tourists and beginners, Scusi is a safe and useful choice.

🏙️ 7. Il Centro — The City Centre

A very useful word when travelling is:

il centro

the city centre / town centre

You can ask:

Dov’è il centro?
Where is the city centre?

Or:

Come si va in centro?
How do you get to the city centre?

Someone might answer:

Vada sempre dritto.
Go straight ahead.

Poi giri a sinistra.
Then turn left.

Il centro è vicino.
The city centre is nearby.

🎭 8. Dialogue: Finding the Museum

Read the conversation aloud. Try to play both parts.

🗺️ Per strada — In the street

Anna: Scusi, dov’è il museo, per favore?

Excuse me, where is the museum, please?

Signora: Il museo? È molto vicino.

The museum? It’s very close.

Anna: Come si va?

How do I get there?

Signora: Vada sempre dritto e poi giri a destra.

Go straight ahead and then turn right.

Anna: A destra?

To the right?

Signora: Sì. Il museo è accanto alla banca.

Yes. The museum is next to the bank.

Anna: È lontano?

Is it far?

Signora: No, sono cinque minuti a piedi.

No, it’s five minutes on foot.

Anna: Perfetto! Grazie mille!

Perfect! Thank you very much!

Signora: Prego!

You’re welcome!

🚉 9. Dialogue: Finding the Station

Here’s another everyday situation.

Marco: Scusi, dov’è la stazione?

Excuse me, where is the station?

Uomo: È abbastanza vicino.

It’s quite close.

Marco: Come si va alla stazione?

How do I get to the station?

Uomo: Vada sempre dritto fino al semaforo.

Go straight ahead until the traffic lights.

Marco: E poi?

And then?

Uomo: Poi giri a sinistra. La stazione è sulla destra.

Then turn left. The station is on the right.

Marco: Grazie!

Thank you!

Uomo: Di niente!

You’re welcome!

🧠 10. A Useful Grammar Point: “Dov’è?”

You may have noticed something important.

Dov’è…?

literally means “Where is…?”

It is made from:

dove = where
è = is

So:

Dove è…? → Dov’è…?

Examples:

Dov’è il bar?
Where is the café?

Dov’è la stazione?
Where is the station?

Dov’è il bagno?
Where is the toilet?

The apostrophe in Dov’è shows that the two words have been joined together.

📝 11. Key Vocabulary Recap

Let’s review today’s most important words and phrases.

Places

la stazione — station
la piazza — square
il museo — museum
la farmacia — pharmacy
il ristorante — restaurant
il bar — café / bar
il supermercato — supermarket
il parco — park
il centro — city centre

Directions

a destra — to the right
a sinistra — to the left
sempre dritto — straight ahead
vicino — near
lontano — far
davanti a — in front of
dietro — behind
accanto a — next to
di fronte a — opposite

Useful questions

Dov’è…? — Where is…?
Come si va…? — How do you get to…?
Scusi, dov’è…? — Excuse me, where is…?
Mi può aiutare? — Can you help me?

✏️ 12. Practice Time!

Now it’s your turn.

Exercise 1 — Translate into Italian

Translate these sentences:

Where is the station?
Where is the pharmacy?
Turn right.
Turn left.
Go straight ahead.
The museum is nearby.

Exercise 2 — Complete the Sentence

Choose destra, sinistra or dritto.

Giri a ______.
Vada sempre ______.
La banca è a ______.

Exercise 3 — Build Your Own Question

Use:

Scusi, dov’è… ?

Ask where these places are:

the museum
the station
the supermarket
the restaurant

For example:

Scusi, dov’è il museo?

Exercise 4 — Give Directions

Imagine that someone asks you:

Scusi, dov’è il bar?

Give a simple answer using at least two of these expressions:

sempre dritto
a destra
a sinistra
vicino
accanto a

For example:

Sempre dritto, poi a destra. Il bar è vicino alla banca.

⭐ Bonus Challenge

Imagine you are in an Italian city.

A tourist asks you:

Scusi, dov’è la stazione?

Write a short dialogue of 4–6 lines between the tourist and yourself.

Try to use:

Scusi
Dov’è…?
sempre dritto
a destra or a sinistra
Grazie
Prego

Then read your dialogue aloud.

💡 Everyday Italian Tip

Next time you are walking around your own town, try describing your route in Italian.

For example:

Vado sempre dritto.
I go straight ahead.

Giro a destra.
I turn right.

La farmacia è a sinistra.
The pharmacy is on the left.

You don’t need to be in Italy to practise Italian!

The more you connect Italian words with real places and actions, the easier they become to remember.

🎉 Well Done!

You’ve completed Italian for Beginners — Lesson 6: Around the City & Asking for Directions!

You can now:

✅ Name common places in a city
✅ Ask Dov’è…?
✅ Ask someone for directions politely
✅ Understand a destra, a sinistra and sempre dritto
✅ Give simple directions
✅ Talk about places that are near or far

In Lesson 7, we’ll move from getting around the city to something we all do every day: talking about our daily routine.

You’ll learn useful verbs and phrases for saying what you do in the morning, afternoon and evening — from mi sveglio (I wake up) to vado a dormire (I go to sleep).

Continua così — keep going! 🇮🇹

In bocca al lupo!
Good luck!

👁️ Show Answers

Exercise 1

Dov’è la stazione?
Dov’è la farmacia?
Giri a destra.
Giri a sinistra.
Vada sempre dritto.
Il museo è vicino.

Exercise 2

Giri a destra.
Vada sempre dritto.
La banca è a sinistra.

Exercise 3

Possible answers:

Scusi, dov’è il museo?
Scusi, dov’è la stazione?
Scusi, dov’è il supermercato?
Scusi, dov’è il ristorante?

Exercise 4

There are many possible answers. For example:

Sempre dritto, poi a destra. Il bar è vicino alla banca.

Bonus Challenge

There are many possible answers. The important thing is to use the key expressions correctly and create a simple, understandable conversation.